Valve stopped developing Dota Underlords. The last patch arrived on 8 December 2021 and its headline note extended the Season 1 end date to 2031, which in practice means no further content or balance work. Servers stay online and matchmaking still fills, with SteamDB tracking roughly 1,000 to 1,300 concurrent players in August 2026 against an all-time peak of 202,334 on 23 June 2019, so what you are playing is a frozen 2021 auto-battler rather than a supported competitive game.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Standard | 8x8 board placement basics | Assassin Burst | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Knockout | three-copy hero upgrades mastery | Assassin Burst | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Duos | alliance bonuses + gear | Warrior Frontline or Assassin Burst | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | City Crawl | Build optimization | Warrior Frontline | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Ranked matchmaking | Min-max | Warrior Frontline or Hunter Scaling | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Standard)
The main eight-player mode, where everyone starts at 100 health and the last player standing wins. Rounds alternate between player-versus-player fights and creep rounds that hand out item picks.
Level/Difficulty: Full match, roughly 30 to 45 minutes Key Rewards: Item picks after rounds 1, 2, 3, 10 and then every fifth round. Season 1 progression rewards are frozen: Valve pushed the season end to 2031 and nothing new is being added.
What to Do in Standard
- Learn 8x8 board placement. You arrange purchased heroes on an 8x8 grid during a preparation phase, then the round resolves automatically with no further input. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Assassin Burst as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- Know what you are signing up for before you install. The 8 December 2021 patch pushed Season 1 to 2031 and no balance changes have followed, so every comp you read about in a 2020 guide is still exactly as strong or weak as it was then. That stability is genuinely useful for learning, but there is no meta to keep up with.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: Vladmir's Offering or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand 8x8 board placement fundamentals
- Assassin Burst selected and functional
- Standard main content cleared
- Ready for Knockout
Phase 2: Early Game (Knockout)
A shortened format that compresses the same eight-player structure into a faster match. Economy matters less because there are fewer rounds to compound interest across.
Level/Difficulty: Short match, roughly 15 to 20 minutes Key Rewards: Same item pick structure at an accelerated pace. No mode-specific unlocks are being issued any more.
What to Do in Knockout
- Work on three-copy hero upgrades. Three copies of the same hero merge into a two-star version, and three two-stars merge again into a three-star. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Vladmir's Offering if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Bank to ten gold as fast as you can. Interest pays one gold per ten held up to a five gold cap, so the difference between sitting at nine and sitting at fifty compounds over a 30-round match into more heroes than any single lucky reroll gives you.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Duos.
- Consider whether Warrior Frontline might suit your playstyle better than Assassin Burst.
Phase 2 Checklist
- three-copy hero upgrades integrated into gameplay
- Vladmir's Offering acquired
- Knockout fully cleared
- Ready for Duos
Phase 3: Mid Game (Duos)
Two players share a health pool and experience while running separate boards, so a partner who feeds losses drags you down directly. Queue times are the worst of any mode given the current population.
Level/Difficulty: Full match, needs a partner Key Rewards: Shared health and experience. With roughly a thousand concurrent players worldwide, expect long waits or bring your own second player.
What to Do in Duos
- Master alliance bonuses. Fielding several heroes from the same alliance grants a shared bonus that scales in steps, so three Warriors give the whole team armor. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Aegis of the Immortal. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Three Warriors is the cheapest stable opening in the game because the alliance grants armor to the entire team, not just to the Warriors. Even if you intend to finish on Mages, Warriors buy you the early rounds without spending on rerolls.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in gold interest and streaks for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- alliance bonuses mastered
- Aegis of the Immortal acquired or in progress
- Duos fully cleared
- Ready for City Crawl
Phase 4: Late Game (City Crawl)
The single-player campaign layer built around White Spire, offering scripted challenges and puzzle boards rather than ladder matches. It is the part of the game least affected by the end of development because it never depended on a live population.
Level/Difficulty: Solo, play at your own pace Key Rewards: Campaign challenges and cosmetic unlocks that were finished before development stopped. Nothing new has been added since 2021.
What to Do in City Crawl
- Finalize your build. You should be running Warrior Frontline or Assassin Burst with optimized gear.
- Aegis of the Immortal should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Positioning beats board strength against Assassins. They jump the back line at combat start, so putting your carry in a corner surrounded by two bodies means the jump lands into your frontline instead of onto your damage dealer.
- Underlord pick at round 10 optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Ranked matchmaking.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Aegis of the Immortal upgraded to max
- City Crawl fully cleared
- Ready for Ranked matchmaking
Phase 5: Endgame (Ranked matchmaking)
The competitive ladder still runs and still places you against opponents, but the pool it draws from is four figures rather than six. Match quality varies wildly as a result, with strong veterans sitting in the same queue as returning players.
Level/Difficulty: Requires completing placement matches Key Rewards: Ladder placement only. Seasonal rewards stopped being meaningful the moment Valve extended Season 1 to 2031, so treat rank as a personal score.
What to Do in Ranked matchmaking
- Ranked matchmaking tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Take the Underlord that patches a hole rather than the one with the best animation. Anessix summons an extra Demon that counts toward that alliance, Jull is a melee tank, Hobgen sets targets on fire for a percentage of maximum health per second, and Enno leaps around poisoning the back line. Each appears in one of two builds chosen at random, so read the offered build, not just the name.
- The endgame loop: run Ranked matchmaking, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Hunter Scaling for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Underlord pick at round 10 mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Ranked matchmaking fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Following a 2019 or 2020 tier list without checking it predates the final December 2021 balance state
- Rerolling the shop every round and arriving at round 20 with no interest and a two-star board
- Stacking every damage unit in one corner where a single area ability hits all of them
- Picking an Underlord for its ability description without checking which of its two builds was offered
- Queuing Duos solo during off-peak hours and blaming the game for a wait that a four-figure population cannot fix
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Know what you are signing up for before you install. The 8 December 2021 patch pushed Season 1 to 2031 and no balance changes have followed, so every comp you read about in a 2020 guide is still exactly as strong or weak as it was then. That stability is genuinely useful for learning, but there is no meta to keep up with.
- Bank to ten gold as fast as you can. Interest pays one gold per ten held up to a five gold cap, so the difference between sitting at nine and sitting at fifty compounds over a 30-round match into more heroes than any single lucky reroll gives you.
- Three Warriors is the cheapest stable opening in the game because the alliance grants armor to the entire team, not just to the Warriors. Even if you intend to finish on Mages, Warriors buy you the early rounds without spending on rerolls.
- Positioning beats board strength against Assassins. They jump the back line at combat start, so putting your carry in a corner surrounded by two bodies means the jump lands into your frontline instead of onto your damage dealer.
- Take the Underlord that patches a hole rather than the one with the best animation. Anessix summons an extra Demon that counts toward that alliance, Jull is a melee tank, Hobgen sets targets on fire for a percentage of maximum health per second, and Enno leaps around poisoning the back line. Each appears in one of two builds chosen at random, so read the offered build, not just the name.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Dota Underlords Guides
- Dota Underlords Dota Underlords Overview
- Dota Underlords Best Builds
- Dota Underlords Tier List
- Dota Underlords Beginner's Guide
- Dota Underlords Tips & Tricks
- Dota Underlords Weapons Guide
- Dota Underlords Combat Guide
- Dota Underlords Boss Guide
- Dota Underlords Maps & Locations
- Dota Underlords Crafting Guide
- Dota Underlords Classes & Characters
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